Myth: Human-induced global warming is underway and will cause
major environmental disasters such as soaring temperatures, melting glaciers
and a precipitous rise in sea level that will flood seaboard cities.

Fact: There is no evidence that man-made global warming is occurring.
Proponents of the global warming theory have made numerous predictions about
how man's actions will affect the climate, but none of these predictions
have proven correct. In 1990, officials with the United Nations Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the principal advocate of the global warming
theory, predicted that global temperatures would rise 6°F by 2100. In
1995, the IPCC adjusted its warming projection downward, forecasting that
temperatures would rise less than 2°F, a noticeable increase but hardly
a cause for concern. Natural temperature increases of 3 to 4° F have
occurred in past centuries and have generally benefited humanity by prolonging
growing seasons and promoting mild weather. Most significant is the fact
that that the temperature is not rising. NASA's Tiros weather satellites,
the most accurate barometers of global temperature, show that the Earth
has slightly cooled since 1979, contradicting global warming doomsayers
who predicted that human-induced warming should have caused the temperature
to increase .6°F. Recent scientific research is also disproving claims
that global warming is causing the sea level to dangerously rise. In October
1998, the British Antarctic Survey announced that it found no evidence of
global warming on that continent, concluding that a rapid melting of the
Antarctic ice sheets, which would result in major flooding of seaboard cities
and island nations, is very unlikely. Source: John Carlisle,
Buenos Aires Conference on Global Warming: Much Ado About Nothing, National Policy Analysis Number 218, The National Center
for Public Policy Research, October 1998.

Myth: The adoption of "smart growth" strategies that
impose strict limits on development to combat the alleged problem of urban
sprawl will reduce traffic congestion, improve the environment and make
cities more livable.

Fact: Anti-sprawl policies exacerbate traffic congestion and reduce
air quality by underfunding road construction and forcing new development
into already-congested urban areas. In Portland, Oregon, which has implemented
the most aggressive anti-sprawl program in the nation, regional planners
are going to increase highway capacity by no more than 13% over the next
40 years even though population will rise 75%. As a result, traffic congestion
is so bad in Portland that it is approaching that of the New York metropolitan
area even though New York is 15 times larger. Such congestion is not only
inconvenient because it increases commuters' time on the road, but it is
also unhealthy for the environment. The more time people spend on the road,
the more automobile emissions there will be. Source: John
Carlisle, The Campaign Against Urban Sprawl: Declaring War on the American
Dream, National Policy Analysis Number 239, The
National Center for Public Policy Research, April 1999; Issues 2000: The
Environment, The Heritage Foundation.

Myth: Strict government controls are necessary to prevent profit-minded
oil companies from unnecessarily raising the price of gasoline.

Fact: Government has inflated the price of gasoline by imposing
an 18.4 cent-per-gallon gas tax and restricting domestic oil production
by preventing the development of the oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
(ANWR) in Alaska. Oil drilling on ANWR would only affect 2,000 of the refuge's
19 million acres and would not affect caribou herds and other wildlife in
the area. ANWR is so oil-rich that it could replace 30 years worth of Saudi
oil imported into the U.S. Source: U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski,
Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, "Let
Alaskan Oil Help the State, the Nation," Los Angeles Times, February
17, 2000.

Myth: Genetically-modified foods are dangerous and untested products
that pose a serious risk to public safety.

Fact: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the EPA require all genetically-modified products to
go through a rigorous regulatory review. It takes a company about 8-10 years
to bring a genetically-modified product from the laboratory to the marketplace.
Leading national and international organizations have also endorsed the
safety of food biotechnology including the American Medical Association,
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health
Organization. Source: John Carlisle, No Pleasing Environmentalists,
National Policy Analysis Number 271, The National
Center For Public Policy Research, December 1999.

Myth: The Clean Air Act has been an unqualified success in improving
the environment.

Fact: Enforcement of the Clean Air Act has led to the pollution
of freshwater supplies in many parts of the country. Pursuant to changes
in the 1990 Clean Air Act, the EPA mandated the addition of methyl tertiary
butyl ether (MTBE) to gasoline to cut emissions of carbon monoxide and airborne
toxins. However, MTBE is possibly carcinogenic and it has leaked into many
sources of fresh water. MTBE poses such a serious threat that EPA Administrator
Carol Browner has ordered it to be phased out. Source: Rick
Weiss, "EPA Seeks to End Use of Additive in Gasoline," The Washington
Post, March 21, 2000.

Myth: Requiring automakers to produce cars that meet the Corporate
Average Fuel Economy standard of at least 27.5 miles per gallon is a painless
way to increase auto efficiency and save gasoline.

Fact: Increasing the fuel-efficiency of vehicles has cost thousands
of lives. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), 302 additional people die in auto accidents for every 100 pounds
cut from the average car weight. Analysis of NHTSA and Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety data shows that 46,000 Americans have died in car accidents
since 1975 that they would have survived had they been in larger cars. Source: David Ridenour, Raising Sports Utility Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Standards Would Kill, National Policy Analysis Number
256, The National Center For Public Policy Research, July 1999.